What I've Been Looking For
by Charlie'sLostVampire
Summary: An Academy!Fitzsimmons song ficlet. Leo and Jemma were both incredibly lonely, until fate brought them the best friend they had both spent so long searching for.


_It's hard to believe that I couldn't see you were always there beside me._

_Thought I was alone, with no one to hold, but you were always right beside me._

Before the Academy, life for both Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons was lonely to say the least.

Leo had his siblings, and they were kind and tolerated him, because that's what family does, but they were never really his friends. Sibling friendship turned to rivalry when his intelligence began to shine and quickly his brother and sister, Michael and Emma, gave up on even that when it became apparent that neither of them would ever reach the level of academic grace of their younger brother. Leo was a protégé, and the life of a child genius is a lonely one.

It is especially so if you are an only child, like Jemma Simmons. Jemma had her parents who, while they were doting and affectionate, were rarely home. Timothy Simmons was a dentist and Pamela Simmons was a neurosurgeon. Thus, most of Jemma's time was spent with her grandmother during her youth, while her parents worked, and, while she was a kind lady who knew just how her granddaughter took her tea and what kind of cookies she liked the best, wasn't an expert in anything science related. So there really wasn't much for them to talk about but books, and even that was a limited subject. You see, her grandmother wasn't one for series like _Harry Potter_. She preferred the classics and, while Jemma loved a good Jane Austen book, they became a bit dry to discuss after a few years' worth of talking about them.

More than anything else, both Leo and Jemma desperately wanted a friend; a real friend who would understand technobabble and biochemistry terms, or at least try to, and who read the same books and enjoyed the same television programs and movies. The latter were easy to find in school, but friendships still weren't simple to obtain. Both children's superior intelligence more often than not scared away potential playmates, or ended up having mean words hurled in their faces.

So, when SHIELD Academy brought the two together as some of the youngest recruits to date, one could say Christmas had come early- or, more appropriately, their Hogwarts letters had come a few years late.

_This feeling's like no other. I want you to know…_

_That I've never had someone that knows me like you do, the way you do!_

_And I've never had someone as good for me as you; no one like you!_

Both Leo and Jemma were recruited by the Academy when they were seventeen, after having spent nearly two years each at separate universities in their respective countries. They were the youngest recruits of their year, the other students ranging from twenty-two to twenty-six, and, unfortunately, this fact made them prime targets for bullying from the Operations groups.

"Honestly!" Jemma had shouted at one young man in particular who had been muttering rather vulgar things in her ear during orientation from the seat behind her, causing her to flush with embarrassment and anger. "What gives you the right to taunt someone just because they're younger and from a different field than you-"

Her question was cut off by a chorus of, "oooooooooh, she's _English!_" This caused Jemma to roll her eyes, turning to face the front again while muttering, "And I've got manners, unlike some people."

More taunting likely would have resumed if a loud crash from the top of the auditorium hadn't sounded, followed by a frustrated shout of, "give it back, ye bloody gits! Or I'll… I'll…!"

"You'll what? Bagpipe us to death?" one of the older boys who had taken Leo's backpack asked, and his group of friends snorted with laughter at that, to which Leo rolled his eyes, making another grab for his bag.

"Oh, that's real inventive. Very fresh. A joke about a Scot playin' the bagpipes; how long'd that take you to come up with, eh? A long time?"

Jemma grinned despite herself at his comment. She was usually firmly against any sort of commotion caused in a learning environment, but she was glad to see the rumpled young man standing up for himself. It took a reasonable amount of bravery given that the majority of the boys were twice his size and could likely knock him out if they really wanted to.

"And, for your information, I don't even play the bagpipes," he snapped, snagging his bag when the taller boy was distracted. "My father does."

There was a chorus of laughter, of the mocking variety, from the group as he walked off, and one of them shouted, "At least my name's not _Leopold!_"

Feeling a surge of pity for him, Jemma waved to get his attention, gesturing to the vacant seat beside hers. A look of surprise followed by a shy smile had followed, and he hurried over to take it before someone else could. It was only then that his eyes widened and he turned to face her.

"Wait, you did mean me, didn't you?" he asked nervously once he was seated, looking over at her, and she laughed, nodding to reassure him. He didn't seem to be much older than she was, and she guessed from his name that he was the other young recruit she'd been told about; Leopold Fitz.

"I meant you," she confirmed for good measure, offering him a kind smile. "That was very brave of you, standing up to those boys."

"Neanderthals, the lot of them," he grumbled, still hugging his backpack to his chest, and he flinched when one of the Operations boys behind them kicked his chair in response. Jemma fired them a glare, and they all sniggered at the sight, but thankfully kept their comments to themselves.

"I couldn't agree more," she stated, offering Leo another smile, and he gave her a timid one in response.

"I take it you're Science, then?" he asked, and she nodded.

"I'm Jemma Simmons," she informed him, partially to see if people had raved about her abilities as much as they did about his, and she guessed from his widened eyes that they had.

"_The_ Jemma Simmons? Manipulated frog DNA to recreate more stably the cloning theory behind the science of _Jurassic Park_ for a grade school science fair project Jemma Simmons? _That_ Jemma Simmons?"

A blush quickly spread across her cheeks, and she shook her head. "Oh, that," she dispelled with a wave of her hand, looking over at him again with a shy smile of her own, "That was nothing."

"Nothing?" Leo asked, clearly shocked by her modesty. "You were in year _four_, and your research was brilliant. You could have perfected the science of dinosaur cloning if you'd had the genuine DNA!"

A laugh escaped her at that, and she shook her head. "Haven't you seen the movies? The results of that could have been apocalyptic."

"I love the movies," he admitted with a sheepish smile, relishing in having a genuine conversation with someone who seemingly didn't mind speaking to him. "The animatronics were incredibly advanced for their time; not that there isn't room for improvement, of course. If I could just get my hands on some of that tech…"

Smiling at his enthusiasm, Jemma found herself leaning a bit closer with interest, speaking when he was finished. "I always loved the science behind the stories myself; the fact that, as theoretical and fictitious as they were, it was all highly plausible was far more entertaining than the lawyer being eaten by the tyrannosaurus-rex while hiding in a bathroom stall."

"I felt the same way!" Leo gushed, a grin pulling at his lips. "I used to babble on and on about the theories in the movies; it drove my brother Michael around the bloody bend. He just wanted to watch the dinosaurs terrorize people."

"Which, with the right serums, could have been avoided entirely," Jemma added with a small grin, and Leo grinned back, his eyes twinkling. Suddenly, they widened, apparently realizing how rude he had been.

"Oh! I haven' even introduced myself!" he said, almost looking mortified at this point, and Jemma gave him a soft smile that somehow caused a bit of his anxiety to curb.

"It's alright. I already know who you are," she stated, and he blinked with surprise.

"Wha'…? But how?"

"The agents who spoke with my parents and I gushed about you for a solid ten minutes, perhaps more. The Engineering protégé who rewired his secondary school's entire computer system to have it work on a broadband frequency- when you were _twelve_. You also knew how to hotwire a car before you finished year four, which puts my frog experiments to shame, if you ask me. Oh- and your name is Leo, but you prefer for people to call you Fitz."

He blinked, surprised that agents had spoken of him so fondly when in the presence of a girl as brilliant as _Jemma Simmons_, and he couldn't help the tiny smile that pulled at his lips at her final comment. She didn't have to remember a detail so insignificant, but she did.

"It's lovely to meet you, Fitz," she told him, nodding with a soft, welcoming expression, and he smiled in return with a look of hope in his eyes- hope that he may have finally found the friend he'd spent so long searching for.

"It's fantastic to meet you, Jemma Simmons," he agreed, leaning back in his seat, marveling at her with something akin to awe up until attention was called for at the front of the room and she looked away- but, even then, he kept on staring with that small, hopeful smile never wavering.

Was he worthy of a friend so fantastical? He certainly hoped so.

_And I've never had someone as good for me as you; no one like you!_

_So lonely before I finally found… what I've been looking for._


End file.
